Adjustable height increasing shoe



'Aug. 20, 1940. J. BURGER ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT INCREASiNG. SHOE Filed March 25, 1940 {III 11111115 I lay 11111 (I 3/ INVENTOR JOSE/7H 502G152 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE,

I ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT INCREASING SHOE I Joseph Burger, New York, Application March 25, 1940, Serial No. 325,710

" 6 claims. (01. 36-11 This invention relates toimprovements in shoes for men and women and consists of a novel addition and arrangement embodied in the shoes of regular or conventional types to be worn by human feet, the principal purpose of which is to have the wearer of'these shoes appear taller.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an inner sole for a shoe combined with a metallic arch including a vertically adjustable means supporting the heel portion of the arch and inner sole which adjustable means'is mounted in the heel of the shoe in a manner as to be adjustable exteriorly or interiorly or both of the shoe to thereby vary the height to which the heel portion of the inner sole and arch may be raised.

A still further object of the invention relates to the provision of the adjusting means for the adjustable support in the heel part of the shoe and exteriorly or interiorly or both thereof and so positioned relative to said. heel as to permit of a manual operation of the adjusting means while the shoe is being worn and without removal thereof.

Another object of the'invention relates to the provision of an inner sole embodying a novel metallic arch aifixed to the underside thereof such as to permit of a maximum of flexibility in said inner sole when inserting the same into the shoe or if said inner sole is, permanently afiiXed to the shoe to permit elevation of the heel and arch portions thereof in the adjustment of the same or for repair or inspection purposes.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of, parts andin the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is 11- lustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the shoe.

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the invention showing a sectionon line2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is-a sectional view on line 3--3 of Figure 1 v Figure 4 is a bottom view of the shoe insert or inner sole.

Referring to the drawing, l denotes a conventional form of shoe. comprising a sole ll, heel 12, upper 13, and innersole ordnsert 5. v The inner sole may be fixed in any desired manner at its sole portion to the shoe 'or the same may be utilized as an insert with the sole portion thereof adapted for insertion into a pocket provided within the shoe at the sole position thereof such as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,194,637, granted March 26, 1940.

In anyevent, the inner sole I5 is formed in any desired manner of leather or laminations of leather and fabric and is provided on its under side with a metallic arch unit I6 comprising a forward metallic plate support H, a metallic arch I8, and a heel plate I9. Each of the members of the arch unit [6 is shaped so as to fit within the confines or configuration of the inner sole, see Figure 4, and each is rigidly secured centrally thereof to said'inner sole l5 as by the rivets 19 20 and 2|, respectively.

The metal arch I8 is provided with longitudinally extending tongues 23 and 24 respectively at its front and rear ends each adapted to overlap, respectively, the forward plate support H and heel support l9. Preferably the front and rear end "edges 25 and 26 are inclined so as to nest within the complementary edges 25 and 26 of the forward plate support I! and heel support 19, said edges being arranged in juxtaposed relation to each other so as to retain all'of the parts of the metal arch IS in alignment with each other at all times. By virtue of the arch tongues 23 and 24 overlapping and engaging the front plate support I! and heel support IS a rigid arch is provided for the support of the foot, while at the same time flexibility of the inner sole I5 is permitted along portions thereof between the rivets l9 20 and 2| in a direction away from said arch unit l6. Thus for example the heel portion I5 of the inner sole l5 carrying the heel support plate l9 along with the metal arch IB'may be raised or fiexedto permit access to the part of the shoe therebeneath. I The adjusting mechanism for elevating or depressing the heel portion I5 of the inner sole l5 comprises a screw 30 and a nut 3|. The screw 30 is formed to provide a disc-like head 32 and an axial threaded shank 33, the head 32 being adapted to engage the underside of the metal arch I8 and said shank 33 projecting downwardly and outwardly of said shoe through the opening 34 into a part cylindrical vertical recess 35 provided in the-heel Win the central forward portion thereof. Axially inserted into the part cylindrical recess 35 for threaded engagementwith the shank 33 is the nut 31 Whichis cylindrical in shape and of adiameter slightly less than that of said recess whereby to be freely turnable therein. It will be noted that a portion of the cylindrical nut 3| will project forwardly out of the part cylindrical recess as clearly shown in Figure 2.

In order to retain the nut 3| in said recess 35 as Well as to prevent axial movement thereof the same is provided with an intermediate peripheral groove 36 which is adapted to seat the arms 31 of a U-plate 38 which straddles said nut, the U-plate 38 being positioned between the leather lifts 12 and |2 of the heel l2, see Figure 1. If desired the lift |2 may be a rubber heel. The U-plate 38 is rigidly secured in position to the upper lift 2a. as by the nails 39. Preferably the cylindrical surface of the nut 3| is roughened or serrated to facilitate rotation thereof.

It is thus seen that the nut 3| can berot-ated as by the thumb moving thereagainst to turn the same without removing the shoe. As the nut 3| is permitted only rotational movement the screw 30 must be held from turning so as to provide the desired up and down axial movement thereof. There is thus provided on the underside of the metal arch l8 a lug 40 which is adapted to enter an opening 4| provided in the screw-head 32. This structure obviously can be reversed, i. e. the lug placed on the disc-head 32 and the opening receiving said lug provided in the metal arch l8, or if desired the discehead 32 may be rigidly secured to said metal arch l8 as by rivets. d

It is therefore apparent from the above described construction that the wearer of shoes provided with said described height increasing means may readily adjust the same to meet his individual requirements by the simple expedient of rotating the cylindrically exposed portion of the nut 3|.

It will be further noted that the heel I2 is provided with the usual top piece |2 which is made of any desirable material. This top piece |Z covers the underside of the nut 3| and bottom end of screw 30, so that only the side portion of the nut 3| is exposed to view at the breast line of the heel I2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. 'In a shoe including a heel, a support for increasing the apparent height oi a person comprising an inner sole including an arch and heel portion, support means connected to said arch and heel portion and having a threaded shank projecting downwardly and outwardly of said shoe into a part cylindrical recess formed in said heel, and cylindrical nut means carried within said recess threadedly engaging said shank and adapted upon manipulation of the cylindrical surface thereof to impart a vertical up or down movement to said support means.

2. In a shoe including a heel, an adjustable support for increasing the apparent height of a person comprising an inner sole, a metallic arch unit attached to the underside of said inner sole, screw means comprising a head fixed to said arch unit and a threaded shank adapted to project downwardly and-outwardly of said shoe into a part cylindrical recess formed in the forward cen tral portion of said heel, and a cylindrical nut threadedly engaging said shank positioned Within said part cylindrical recess and having a portion thereof projecting exteriorly of said recessand heel to provide an exposed part cylindrical surface adapted to be manually manipulated exteriorly of said heel to effect rotation of said nut whereby to axially move said screw means.

3. In a shoe including a heel, an adjustable support for increasing the apparent height of a person comprising an inner sole, a metallic arch unit attached to the underside of said inner sole, screw means comprising a head fixed to said arch unit and a threaded shank adapted to project downwardly and outwardly of said shoe into a part cylindrical recess formed in the forward central portion of said heel, and a cylindrical nut threadedly engaging said shank positioned within said part cylindrical recess and having a portion thereof projecting exteriorly of said recess and heel, to provide anexposed part cylindrical surface adapted to be manually manipulated exteriorly of said heel to efiect rotation of said nut whereby to axially move said screw means, said metallic arch unit comprising a forward plate support, an intermediate arch and a heel plate support each individually secured to said inner sole, and said screw means head being non-rotatably connected to said intermediate arch.

- 4. In a shoe including a heel, an adjustable support for increasing the apparent height of a person comprising an inner sole, a metallic arch unit attached to the underside of said inner sole, screw means comprising a head fixed to said arch unit'and a threaded shank adapted to project .downwardly and outwardly of said shoe into. a part cylindrical recess formed in the forward central portion of said heel, and a cylindrical nut threadedly engaging said shank positioned within said part cylindrical recess andhaving a portion thereof projecting exteriorly'of said recess and heel, to provide an exposed part cylindrical surface adapted to be manually manipulated exteriorly of said heel to eflect rotation of said nut whereby to axially mo-vesaid screw means, said cylindrical nut being provided with a peripheral groove intermediate its ends, a U-plate rigidly mounted within said heel with the arms thereof straddling said nut and seated in said groove whereby only rotational movement of said'nut is permitted.

5. In a'shoe including a heel, an adjustable support for increasing the apparent height of a person comprising an inner sole, a metallic arch unit attached to the underside of said inner sole, screw means comprising a head fixed to said arch unit and a'threaded shank adapted to project downwardly and outwardly of said shoe into a part cylindrical recess formed in the forward cen{- tral portion of said heel, and a cylindrical'nut threadedly engaging said shank positioned within said part cylindrical recess and having a por "tion' thereof projecting exteriorly of said recess and 'heel'to provide an exposed part cylindrical surface adapted to be manually manipulated exteriorly of said heel to efiect rotation of said nut whereby to axially move said screw means, saidmetallic arch unit comprising a forward plate support, an intermediate arch and a heelplate support each arranged in juxtaposed relationto each other and individually secured to said inner sole, tongue means on each end of said intermediate arch overlapping the underside of said forward plate and heel plate whereby saidinner sole may be flexed in the region of said arch unit in a direction away from the same, a lug depending from said intermediate arch, andsaid screw means head having an opening, adapted to receive said lug whereby to prevent rotation of said screw means. 3

- 6. Ina shoe including a heel, an adjustable support for increasing the apparent height of a person comprising an inner sole, a. metallic arch xii unit attached to the underside of said inner sole, screw means comprising a head fixed to said arch unit and a threaded shank adapted to project downwardly and outwardly of said shoe into a part cylindrical recess formed in the forward central portion of said heel, and a cylindrical nut threadedly engaging said shank positioned within said part cylindrical recess and'having a portion thereof projecting exteriorly of said recess and heel to provide an exposed part cylindrical surface adapted to be manually manipulated exteriorly of said heel to effect rotation of said nut whereby to axially move said screw means, said metallic arch unit comprising a forward plate support, an intermediate arch and a heel plate support each arranged in juxtaposed relation to each other and individually secured to said inner sole, tongue means on each end of said intermediate arch overlapping the underside of said forward plate and heel plate whereby said inner sole may be flexed in the region of said arch unit in a direction away from the same, a lug depending from said intermediate arch, and said screw means head having an opening adapted to receive said lug whereby to prevent rotation of said screw means, said cylindrical nut being provided with a peripheral groove intermediate itsends, a U-plate rigidly mounted within said heel with the arms thereof straddling said nut and seated in said groove whereby only rotational movement of said nut is permitted.

JOSEPH BURGER. 

